North East Runners secure double team gold at Louth Cross Country Championships

North-East Runners AC dominated the Intermediate Cross Country Championships last weekend in the Darver Sports Centre. The Dundalk club descended on the Cross-Country course and stormed as victorious winners, coming home with 15 medals.

First on the schedule was the Ladies 4km race where North-East Runners had strong contenders to podium. From the whistle NER’s Kelly Breen took the lead in style and never once had to look back.

Kelly created a huge gap and couldn’t be chased down. She crossed the line with ease and became this year’s Louth Intermediate Champion of 2022.

The following pack had North-East Runner Claire Smyth among them, with her eyes on a top three medal. Her months of hard graft stood to her as she overtook the Ace AC athlete coming into the final kilometre. 

Charging hard she was in touching distance of Dunleer’s Claire O’Malley and with a strong finish got her spot on the podium in third place.

The rest of the Ladies team came across the finish line one after another with Caoimhe Lynch 4th, AnnMarie Duffy in 6th and Clíodhna Hyland 7th.

The club finished with five athletes in the top seven and were clear winners of the team event, with the top four athletes scoring a low 14 points. Completing the team was Pamela Shevlin in 13th, showing all the girls were in flying form.

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With such successes for the Ladies NER team, the pressure was on the Men’s squad to perform. With 13 North East Runners athletes toeing the line for the men’s race, there was two teams named for the 8km event.

It was a cagey start as the lead runners were bunched up and waiting for someone to make a break. It wasn’t until four kilometres were complete did NER athlete Donnchadh Hughes make a fast break away that no one could match.

As the finish lined neared, Donnchadh was a clear winner by a long shot and crowned Intermediate Men’s Champion, a double winner for NER.

Following behind was David Redmond who fought a hard battle with Drogheda’s Colin Leonard and Glenmore’s Shane Toner and finished a respectable 4th place.

Again, like the ladies race, it was black and white singlets cruising into the finish with Garry Mulligan 5th, Liam Fergus 6th, Paul Hyland 8th, Peter McGuinness 10th, Keith Geoghegan 11th, Oisin Hughes 12th and Richard Murphy 16th impressing.

The club had eight men in the top 12. This made NER the lowest scoring team and thus they took the title of Intermediate Men's Champions, along with the Ladies.

Completing the men’s team was Mark O’Connor (19th) John Tumilty (22nd) Sean Carroll (31st) and Garreth McKevitt (32nd).

As two teams were entered, the men also secured bronze team medals. A truly fruitful day for all involved with the North East Runner's club.